A screenshot of a Weston house's listing on Final Offer. Image courtesy of Final Offer
Final Offer, a Boston-launched platform that aims to let real estate agents better manage bidding wars, is now active in Berkshire County after striking a deal with a major Sotheby’s International Realty affiliate.
William Pitt – Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty announced Wednesday that the company had partnered with Final Offer to make the platform available for all its agents in Berkshire County, plus Connecticut and New York State.
Final Offer bills itself as a way to both enhance the transparency of home–sales negotiations and generate more competition among buyers. Its signature feature lets sellers commit up front to a price and a set of terms that they would be willing to automatically sign a purchase-and-sale agreement at, and started a countdown clock for other offers if a prospective buyer met that “final offer.” Sellers can specify a range of conditions beyond price and concessions they are willing to make or that they would like buyers to make, and can manage negotiations through the platform.
As of last year, the company said it had been charging listing agents $200 per home posted to the platform or subscriptions costing between $500 and $1,000 depending on how long they ran. The firm received $5 million in series A funding last November after raising $3 million from Boston and Washington, D.C.-area real estate agents.
The product was designed to empower licensed real estate agents to provide a more transparent offer and negotiation experience for the consumer. For every property that leverages Final Offer’s negotiation technology to bring about a sale, agents work with their sellers to determine the publicly disclosed terms, conditions and pricing for their homes. Then, all offers from buyers are presented by their agents directly through the platform, triggering immediate text notifications to all interested parties actively following the property.
These notifications can consist of alerts on any action on a property including details such as the purchase price and terms of the offer, or simply the fact that an offer was made, which in itself signals greater transparency than buyers in the market have previously experienced. Final Offer provides significant flexibility, empowering sellers with the ability to choose to reveal offers and terms, and to allow their agents to handle negotiations directly through the platform.
“We are excited to take the lead in our territories with the introduction of this revolutionary platform, and we are confident the market will embrace the change,” William Pitt – Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Chairman and CEO Paul Breunich said in a statement. “This innovative technology creates the potential for buyers to see all bids, providing a fair chance to make competitive offers. Property owners benefit from a truly competitive selling environment where all bids potentially can be made visible. This is a solution for every seller who ever felt they were leaving money on the table, and for every buyer who wasn’t given the opportunity to beat a winning bid with a better offer.”
Consumers can follow properties and receive real-time offer alerts by scanning property-specific QR codes, included on signs displayed on properties, at open houses or through other marketing vehicles. Prospective buyers submit pre-approval or proof of funds to agents prior to submitting offers.
“We have set out to enhance the way agents, sellers and buyers collaborate in the offer process by creating greater transparency and visibility,” Final Offer co-CEO Judd Hoffman said in a statement. “By empowering all parties to make more informed decisions during the complex real estate transaction process, we will help to build trust and bring greater fairness and efficiency to housing markets across Connecticut, New York and the Berkshires, Massachusetts. We’re thrilled to partner with one of the most iconic real estate brands to elevate the homebuying and selling experience in these key markets.”
